One thing I miss about the Arizona high country is the dark night skies. I’ve been back up in Parks for two days to do some more work on the place and I went out tonight to look at the sky. The stars were breathtakingly bright in the cold, clear air at 7,000 feet. While gazing up at the Milky Way, I became acutely aware of the tension that I live with on a daily basis right now. I have been so busy running to try and get everything done that I hadn’t taken the time to just look, much less to feel.
Pursuing a new life in the Phoenix area and trying to maintain my place in northern Arizona is an uneasy balancing act. Uncertainties abound and I never know from one day to the next what new surprise will come up next. It is exciting, that’s for sure. I feel as if I am riding a unicycle on a high wire while juggling. Blindfolded. I seem to recall saying something about not having enough excitement in my life, oh a couple of months or so ago…. Nowadays, I have about all the excitement I can handle.
Actually, things are going pretty well. My student roster is growing and so is my repertoire. I’m almost done with a client’s website in Drupal. I’ve got a possible interview for a long-term temp assignment as a web developer later this week. If that all goes as I hope, I’ll be on that full-time as of next Monday, which should fill in the gaps while my teaching schedule expands. It’ll be hectic for awhile, but doable. At least I will have a settled, predictable routine for two months! I’m almost done with all the various projects on the “cabin.” It’s been difficult making all the trips back and forth, but it has let me see my folks more often than I would have otherwise.
It was wonderful to be able to be outside today in near 60 degree temps, scraping paint and caulking. I could feel the warm sun on my shoulders and smell the dusty tang of the dried grasses in the yard. I had to laugh as I took the extension ladder down off its hooks; I could hear Cap’t. G’s voice in my ear telling me in no uncertain terms how to lift, carry and place it. Angle, brace, test, climb, anchor your leg to leave your hands free- it was fire academy all over again. I was grinning as I went up and down the ladder at each window and door.
If nothing else sticks with me from the old firefighter days, I did gain the confidence to tackle just about anything around my place. It all seems pretty elementary after learning how to run pumps, extrication equipment, chain saws, and to repair SCBAs! (As you might have guessed, I never was much of a Barbie doll, though I have been rather mindful of my nails lately. I don’t want to ruin my guitar tremelo!)
Some things are falling through the cracks at the moment, however, like blogging, Flamencophile.com, and accompanying flamenco dance classes. I have to remind myself every so often that it will all still be there when everything calms down. (Famous last words.) For now, the fact that I’m keeping up with practicing and my exercise program in the midst of everything else is quite an accomplishment. And, I did take a few minutes to gaze up at the night sky tonight and just appreciate the clarity and the beauty of the stars.
